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I am happy to consider reviewing books on behalf of publishers. However, please note that I will publish my honest thoughts of the book. If I do not like it, I will and do feel obligated to point out the reasons why I would not recommend it to others. I maintain an affiliate account with Amazon and receive compensation for purchases which originate via the Amazon link provided in any given review.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Touch and Feel Books (Huge Giveaway!)

Yes, this post is long. But Tiger Tales will make it incredibly worth your while if you read it through to the end!

Any long time readers around here know that our family really loves Tiger Tales books. A lot. I like them so much that whenever I see that red label on a side of the book, I pick the book up, whether the title first catches my eye or not. So far as I have ever seen, they produce quality books that children love and adults don't mind reading! That takes some degree of cleverness, but they always seem to manage it.

Our family is also always enthusiastic whenever their new lineup of books is released. When the box from Tiger Tales arrives, everyone in the house (literally) gathers 'round to see what's new. This time was no different; the box came and just by holding it in my hands I became the center of attention. (To be fair, I was also preparing dinner at the time. But still...)

I sliced open the box and reached inside and this time my youngest child, Bookworm3 (age 2 next month!) let out a crazy squeal. This box was made for her.

Tiger Tales has released a new series of "My First" books, and I'm here to share all of them with you - literally. (Stay with me now!)

The very first title I pulled from the box was My First Touch and Feel Pets which just about sent my daughter over the moon. The front cover, you'll notice, has a bunny on it and she recently attended a magic show where a live bunny was present and she got to touch it. She hasn't stopped talking about that experience (we talk about it even more each time we sit down with this book) and now she has her very own bunny to pet anytime she wants to.

There are five page spreads included which feature one animal each: a bunny, dog, bird, cat and lizard. Each page spread also bears one sentence upon it which teaches the sound that that particular animal makes. (E.g., "I am very cute and cuddly and I woof! woof! woof!")

All of the above can be said about My First Touch and Feel Farm. In this book the following animals make an appearance: a duckling, foal, puppy, piglet and lamb. The lamb is our favorite animal from this book because some people who live near to us have a bunch of sheep and when we go out on evening walks, the sheep talk to us. We feel very friendly towards such creatures as a result!

What makes this series stand out from other touch and feel books, you ask? It's a fair enough question! I would say that these books are more visually appealing than any other touch and feel book I've seen.
I am a particular fan of their use of sharp, clear photographs of the animals featured. Instead of placing their images on colored backgrounds, Tiger Tales opted to use black and white backgrounds with primary colors for lettering which really makes things pop out at you in a different manner than other varieties of books on these subjects. These have a very bold and colorful feel, yet when you look closely at it you can see that the imagines stand out for being set against white. Yet for all that, the books also feel rich with color.

These two titles have built-in, solid handles which makes it easy for little hands to carry them around. They can handle (har, har) some degree of heavy usage.

As this is a "First" Lift and Learn, there is only one large flap per page. (So two flaps per page spread.) They are easy to lift up and fairly thick flaps at that. (Not terribly thick but they'll do well for an enthusiastic fan for awhile.)

These book focus on building vocabulary and that makes me a bit fan of them. Using the same crystal clear imaging, we can learn to identify Things at School, Things at the Park, Things at the Beach, Things at the Zoo and etc. There are also pages which teach shapes, colors and numbers much like in the above titles, only using a different format. At first glance at these titles I thought there might be too many pictures on each page spread and wondered if the amount of images might be a little overwhelming to my daughter. Usually, if she is too confused by something, she just flips pages quickly and randomly but she did not seem dismissive of these books at all. Rather, she started telling me about what she thought was happening on each page. Apparently it looked like a story to her and she was very attentive and enthusiastic in telling me about the kids at the beach who were wearing their "swimming clothes" and getting into the water.

And last, but not least, is their new ABC Puzzle and Book set. This contains a paperback book (as opposed to a board book, like all of the titles above) featuring, obviously, the letters of the alphabet. Each page has one letter (so 2 letters per spread) and is surrounded by images which start with that particular letter. I thought it was interesting that they used emotions in their picture line-up. (For example: "upset" for U.) You also have likely gathered that it comes with a thirty-piece floor puzzle.

The entire series is earmarked for ages 2-5. I don't know that even five years old is a bit overreaching but the alphabet and puzzle title certainly fits the bill. And despite the fact that these books are for younger children, Bookworm1 (age 6) did enjoy flipping through them with his siblings. They are bright, colorful and cheerful so why not?!

Now for the really exciting part:

Tiger Tales has offered to giveaway ALL of the above titles to one of you! Yes. That's right. One of you can win this entire new "My First" series!

How can you win? Well, I like to keep things simple. All you need to do is to leave a comment below with your name and a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you if your name is selected as the winner. This contest is open to US Residents only and will be open through Friday, March 29th.

EXTRA ENTRIES ARE AVAILABLE! You can leave an additional comment for each thing you choose to do in addition to the original comment with your e-mail addy:

1. Twitter this giveaway. (@ReadingtoKnow)
2. Facebook this giveaway.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER (as selected by Random.org) is #8 - Janna! Congratulations!!

Best to you!

Thanks to Tiger Tales for their AMAZING generosity in not only sending a set of these books to my family in exchange for our honest thoughts, but for also offering up a set for one of my readers here at Reading to Know.com.